Automatic lathe



Jan. 23, 1951 G. A. PETERSEN ETAL 2,539,320

AUTOMATIC LATHE Filed Jan. 8, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l fm enfars 60mm? ALEX Pars/Pam M4: mm 0m. AIM/10s 0157mm dumm Jan. 23, 1951 G. A. PETERSEN ET AL 2,539,320

AUTOMATIC LATHE Filed Jan. 8, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [kl anions 600ml? ALE! Perms! Mu 90? 0m. MAc/vus 015mm [W &4? v62:

fil/mweys Patented Jan. 23, 1951 AUTOMATIC LATHE Gunnar Alex Petersen, Klampenborg, and Walther Carl Magnus Dietrich, Copenhagen, Denmark Application January 8, 1947, Serial No. 720,719 In Denmark October 13, 1942 Section 1, Public Law 63-0, August 3, 1946 Patent expires October 13 1962 3 Claims.

This invention relates to an automatic lathe in which the movements during the various-operations, such as for instance the advance of the material and the feedmovement of tools mounted in tool rests or holders, are so controlled bycams driven from a common shaft as to make one revolution during the production of each work piece.

Automatic lathes of this type are generally provided with two sets of tool holders, namely one set in connection with the head stock, this set customarily comprising two or more slides movable towards the head stock and/r two or more rocking tool holders located in the head stock, and one set in connection with the tail stock.

The present invention relates to the mechanism of an automatic lathe for driving the tool. holders in connection with the head stock, and, therefore, the description which follows refers exclusively to the elements-of the head stock.

In the known automatic lathes in which, the tools are controlled by cams, the latter are generally mounted on a common shaft alongside the head stock, and each of the cams drives the tool holder or other operating member belonging thereto through a chain of connecting elements which most often include a toothed segment engaging a rack or another toothed segment or a gear wheel which is connected with the driven member either directly or through further connecting elements. links, however, various possible inaccuracies may arise, because a singlelmetal chip or other foreign body, accidentally interfering with the teeth of the gearings, may displace the tool holder a great distance with respect to the accuracy with which the lathe should work. Furthermore, the cam shaft being mounted alongside the spindle, the survey of the cams and their immediate positions will be less good.

These inconveniences are overcome by the present invention, according to which the cams for the tools mounted in tool holders at the front side of the head stock and for a stop for the advance of the. material, are mounted coaxially with the spindle at the rear end of the head stock, and the cams are preferably removably secured to a sleeve capable of turning on the spindle and carrying a gear wheel through which the sleeve and the cams are driven.

In this way the cams and the driving mechanisms of the tools are positioned as far as possible from the place where the chips are produced, and at any time the conditions of all the In this chain of connecting can be fully surveyed. Furthermore, this arrangement of the cams enables the cams to be directly connected to the tools to be actuated since, according to the invention, each of the tool holders, which in th'- e so must be oscillatingly mounted at the front side of the head stock, may be constituted, as known per se, by, or located on the front end of, racking shafts disposed in the head stock, each of these shafts carrying at its rear end and arm abutting directly or through roller against the corresponding cam.

One form of construction of an automatic lathe according to the invention is hereinafter described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a cross section through the head stock of an automatic lathe according to the invention along the line II of Figure 2, all the parts not-concerning the sub ect of the invention being omitted, and

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the head stock shown in Figure 1,

i is a shaft extending into the head stock and driven by a gear providedin a housing 2, the driving shaft 3 of which carries a l-belt pulley d, which is driven from an electromotor by means of a. V-belt not shown.

At the end extending into the head stock, the shaft carries a bevel wheel 5, partly engaging a bevel wheel {5 secured to a shaft 3, which extends forwardly in the machine and serves to drive the tools provided at the tail stock, and partly engaging another bevel wheel 8 secured to a shaft 9, which is located in a bearing if) in the rear wall it of the head stock and passes through it. The wheels 5, 6 and 8 are of equal size.

At the end extending from the wall H, the shaft 23 carries a gear wheel !2 engaging an intermediate gear wheel 53 mounted on a shaft id is fastened in the wall I I, The gear wheel E3 engages with a. gear wheel l5 having the same number of teeth the gear wheel !2. The gear wheel 55 is secured to the inner end of a sleeve 6 rotatably mounted on a hollow spindle ll located partly in the wall H and partly in the front wall Id of the head stock.

The bar material to be worked is introduced through the hollow spindle H which is driven by of a V-belt pulley i9 mounted near the rear end thereof and clamped by a chuck 29 mounted at the front end of the spindle it. The chuck 2G is actuated in a manner known per se by means of a clamping mechanism 2! which is mounted on the spindle inside the head stock,

and the details of construction of which do not require to be described. A member 22 effecting the clamping movement and being mounted on the spindle ll so as to rotate therewith and slide longitudinally thereon has a circular groove 23 engaged by pins 24 on a bifurcated upper arm 25 of a bell crank lever located on a fast shaft 21. The lower arm 26 of the bell crank lever carries at its end a roller 28 by which the lever arm 26 abuts against a cam 29 fastened on the shaft and adapted to engage and disengage the chuck 2!].

Cams 30, 31 and 32 are mounted on the sleeve (6 being kept spaced apart by washers 33, 34, the inner cam 32 being spaced apart from the gear wheel 55 by a washer 35 preferably in the form of a hub on the gear wheel l5. The cams 3i 3!, 32 and the washers 33,36 are fastened to the sleeve by means of a nut 33 screwed thereon.

A roller runs on the cam 39, being carried by a bell crank lever 38 pivoted on a pin 39 secured in an arm The latter is secured to a shaft 4i oscillatingly mounted in the walls II and 18, carried through the head stock, and carrying at its front a tool holder :32. A coil spring 42 mounted on the shaft ii is fastened at one end to the wall H and at the other end to the shaft 4!. The spring 33 is so mounted as to tend to turn the shaft and the arm 2 9 With the bell crank lever 38 clockwise thereby causing the roller 3? constantly to abut against the cam 38. A set screw screwed through one arm of the lever 38 approximately parallel to the arm 49, abuts againstthe upper surface of the arm 43, being intended to effect the fine adjustment of the tool 54 fastened in the tool holder 12.

The cam 3! is connected to a corresponding shaft 55 carrying a tool holder 45 at the front side of the head stock in the same manner as the cam 35) is connected to the shaft.

A roller e? mounted on one arm 43 of a bell crank lever runs on the cam 32, the said lever being pivoted on a pin 56 fastened in the wall A I. The 39 of the bell crank lever has a toothed segment 5! engaging with another toothed seg ment 52 secured to a shaft 53 carried through the head stock. At the front side of the head stock the shaft 53 carries a stop known per se (not shown in the drawings) for limiting the advance movement of the material. N0 inconvenience is experienced with the driving of the said stop as its rocking movement does not require to be accurate.

The invention is not limited to the form of execution shown in the drawings; the same may be modified in various ways without departing from the scope of the invention. For instance, the shaft 53 may be connected to the cam 32 in the same manner as the shafts 4i and 45 are connected with the cams 3t and 3! or in any other suitable way. Further, more than the three tool shafts d5, 53 shown in the drawings may be used, in which case a corresponding greater number of cams are mounted on the sleeve l 8.

Ill

We claim:

1. An automatic lathe comprising a head stock, a spindle rotatably mounted in said head stock and having at its front end means for securing work pieces, a plurality of shafts rotatably mounted in said head stock, a plurality of tool holders mounted respectively on said rotating shafts, a sleeve rotatably mounted on the rear end of the spindle, cams mounted on said sleeve, a toothed wheel on said sleeve, a cam shaft, a toothed wheel on said cam shaft, a gear connection between the said toothed wheel on said sleeve and the toothed wheel on said cam shaft, pivotally mounted arms each abutting one of said cams, and means for connecting each of said arms to one of said tool holder shafts, respectively.

2. An automatic lathe comprising a head stock, a spindle rotatably mounted in said head stock and having at its front end means for se curing work pieces, a plurality of shafts rotatably mounted in said head stock and extending therethrough, a plurality of tool holders mounted on said rotating shafts, a sleeve mounted rotatably on the rear end of said spindle, cams mounted on said sleeve, a toothed wheel on said sleeve, a cam shaft, a toothed wheel on said cam shaft, a gearing between the said toothed wheel on said sleeve and a toothed wheel on said cam shaft, and arms on the rear end of said tool holder shafts each of said arms abutting against one of said cams.

3. An automatic lathe comprising a head stock, a spindle rotatably mounted in said head stock and having at its front end means for securing work pieces, a plurality of shafts rotatably mounted parallel to said spindle in said head stock and extending therethrough, a plurality of tool holders and a stop mounted respectively on said rotating shafts, a sleeve mounted rotatably on the rear end of said spindle, cams mounted on said sleeve and corresponding in number to said shafts, a toothed wheel on said sleeve, a cam shaft, a toothed wheel on said cam shaft, a gearing between the toothed wheels, an arm on the rear end of each of said shafts each abutting against one of said cams, a gear segment on said shaft carrying said stop, and a corresponding gear segment on one of said arms.

GUNNAR ALEX PETERSEN. WALTHER CARL MAGNUS DIETRICI-I.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,158,745 Tessky Nov. 2, 1915 1,658,470 Watson Feb. '7, 1928 1,978,059 Rickert Oct. 23, 1934 2,410,443 Hoffer Nov. 5, 1946 

